


Everyone's Looking for Happy

by PaddieCake



Series: Hargreeves Family Spaghetti Bowl of Fun [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Blatant disregard for Reginald Hargreeves' Life, Except Ben isn't dead, Fluff and Angst, Frankenstein? More like Frankentime, Gen, Good Parent Grace Hargreeves, Grace Hargreeves knows what's up, Let Vanya and Luther Be Friends 2020, Let everyone be happy 2020, Oops, Sibling Bonding, The one where I say screw the rules there are no rules, Time Travel Fix-It, Time Travel Shenanigans, no beta we die like ben, they love each other but they aren't good at showing it yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23287153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaddieCake/pseuds/PaddieCake
Summary: The Hargreeves have time traveled to prevent the Apocalypse, Five decides that isn't good enough.OrThe one where I throw out any rules for anything and create a Franken-Timeline because I need to retroactively fit everyone being alive and happy now that this is a series.
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves/Patrick (mentioned), Ben Hargreeves & Everyone, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Dave/Klaus Hargreeves (mentioned), Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Five/Actually Looking for Happy, Grace Hargreeves & Everyone, Number Five | The Boy (Umbrella Academy) & Everyone, The Hargeeves/Their Bullshit, The Hargreeves/Trying to be Better
Series: Hargreeves Family Spaghetti Bowl of Fun [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674742
Comments: 32
Kudos: 258





	1. The Beginning of Something

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first multi-chaptered fic that wasn't a two-shot, and that I actually plan on finishing!
> 
> I thought I could make this a one-shot. Jokes on me!
> 
> I have the whole basic plot sorted out, but I'm posting the first chapter now. Probably also the second chapter.
> 
> I'm not sure how many chapters, I have two written, and a third and fourth panned out, so it depends on how much I get sucked into it x3.
> 
> Also chronologically this is the first story, taking place directly after The White Violin.

A flash of blue, and then a rush of fire were the last things the Icarus ever saw before the world turned to ash.

A flash of blue and a cool breeze is what greeted seven children as the world continued spinning, growing, living.

"It worked." Five got out before collapsing to the ground, taking huge gulping breaths. "We can still stop the Apocalypse, excellent." Five said, between breaths. It seemed his wounds were gone, which he was grateful for, but he was still exhausted. It seemed the others weren't far behind.

Luther still held tightly onto Vanya, but his eyes focused on Ben "You're alive!" He had been so excited to just  _ see _ Ben, taking down those soldiers, to see him living and breathing, and still holding on to Klaus' arm, was almost overwhelming. For over a decade Luther didn't think he'd ever see Ben again.

Allison and Diego both called out in excitement, even if their voices were laced with exhaustion. Five looked up, already half asleep, but smiling softly up at his brother.

Klaus turned to face Ben, unaware that the hand on his shoulder no longer belonged to a ghost. He was standing there mouth open, eyes wide, looking first at Luther, then Klaus. 

"Holy shit." Their voices echoing each other in unison as they pulled each other into a hug. The others joined quickly, even Luther though he struggled to hug Ben while still carrying Vanya. Five struggled to his feet and stumbled over, gripping on to Ben's arm tightly.

"This is amazing!" "I wasn't sure..." "We're really glad to have you back, bro."

"This is terrible!" One single voice exclaimed. 

Everyone stopped and stared at Klaus who had finally pulled out of the hug to cross his arms.

"What, Klaus! He's  _ alive _ , how could you think that's a bad thing?" Luther asked, looking almost hurt. He knew Klaus could be selfish, but to this extent? It wasn't something Luther could comprehend. And especially after the way he'd been stepping up the last two days. Did he really want to keep Ben to himself? 

"Woah, wait no. No! I meant because now he can punch me, and I won't even be able to  _ stop _ him. At least before I could have made him go all intangible or whatever." Klaus said, putting his hands up defensively. "I'm glad he's alive, I swear!" 

Allison snorted, rolling her eyes, and Diego punched his arm.

Luther just stood there in stunned silence

"Asshole, you don't even know how you made me tangible in the first place " Ben pointed out, crossing his arms. 

"So you were just worried he would hit you…"

"Uh, yeah. He hits  _ hard _ , and that was when he was a ghost. He's a whole person again! Although… He  _ is _ a teeny shrimpy person now so he- ow! Prick!" Ben had smacked him upside the head. "Your arms are so tiny, how." Klaus whined, rubbing his head as Ben punched his arm, calling him an idiot 

"W… Uhm, stop hitting Klaus, Ben!" Luther said in an attempt to use a commanding voice. 

Ben looked at Klaus, who was smirking, as if to mull it over before pushing him to the ground. "I didn't hit him that time! But he deserves it."

"Rude! Rude! After everything we've been through together?!" Klaus exclaimed, pressing a hand to his heart.

"I have seen many parts of you Klaus, many parts I should  _ never _ see. I have the absolute right to hit you!" Ben said tackling him to the ground, although to anyone watching it was obvious he was just glad to be  _ alive _ again.

Five grew annoyed by the play fighting very quickly. 

"That's enough! This isn't the time." Five snapped at Four and Six, who were sprawled on the ground mid-fight. 

The two brothers looked away from each other red faced, and breathing hard, but clearly smiling. "Boo!" 

Five huffed, crossing his arms. "We need to start making a plan."

"A plan for what, exactly?" A cold voice called from behind the group.

Luther gripped Vanya closer to him, even though they were closer to the same size at the moment. "I thought we should do some night time training. Number Seven came with us and fell asleep, we didn't want to wake you. That's what we were planning. I'm sorry, sir." 

Diego eyed Luther, clearly impressed. Though he had no desire to listen to the old man, he knew for now they should probably lay low. If that meant pandering to him like this, he'd let Luther do it.

Reginald narrowed his eyes, his monocle glinting in the light coming from their house. "Well you've failed at that. I doubt you got much more done. You know free time is Saturdays between twelve and half-past twelve. That would be  _ noon _ , not morning. And last I checked it was Tuesday."

"I am sorry, d-sir. Really." Luther's grip tightened around Vanya, in anger and protection.

"Very well, but since you're all awake we'll start training early. Come." He tapped his cane roughly against the stone under him.

Allison walked forward first "I heard a rumor that you thought we were behaving the way you expect us to!" She said in a rushed voice, praying it was clear and loud enough to affect the man. 

Reginald stilled for a minute, looking over the group before nodding. "Very well." He turned on his heel.

There was a collective sigh amongst the 'teenagers'. 

"Good thinking, sis."

"I'm so glad that worked." She said. 

Five looked over the group. "Well hopefully it will stick. We'll rest up tonight, and I'll work on some calculations tomorrow." Five said, eyes fluttering shut.

"You gonna make it?" Diego asked, eyeing Five carefully.

"I'll get him to his room. I don't even feel tired." Ben said brightly. Five looked at Ben wearily, but allowed him to lead him inside.

Luther watched Five and Ben head inside. Diego and Klaus soon followed, whispering quietly amongst themselves, Diego placing a hand on the other's back to steady him.

"Allison, I'm… I-"

"I know, Luther. I know. We should get Vanya to her room. Whatever we need to talk about we can do it tomorrow." She said firmly. She looked over at her brother, watching him. Luther returned the look, swallowing a lump in his throat and nodding.

"Ok…" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How I See the Hargreeves:
> 
> Luther: Dumb Hufflepuff  
> Diego: Dumb Gryffindor  
> Allison: Smart Slytherin  
> Klaus: Dumb Ravenclaw  
> Five: Ravenclaw (or very snooty Hufflepuff)  
> Ben: Smart Gryffindor  
> Vanya: Dumb Slytherin
> 
> I'm standing by this for now, but I will listen to alternate theories! I'm not close minded.
> 
> This probably won't be relevant until the third or fourth chapter, but it's still important because I think it's important.


	2. Waking Up to a New Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't expecting a lot of angst, so I'm sorry to myself for that.
> 
> That being said I think after chapter three it should probably be significantly less angsty, unless something happens while I write it. I don't control anything that happens *shrugs*.
> 
> That being said it will get kind of ridiculous later. Because I already wrote it and I refuse to cut it out.

Blood, shouting. Darkness, fire. Music, nothing. Vanya jolted awake with a scream caught in her throat as vague images raced through her mind as her eyes scanned her surroundings.

She woke up to her very small, very clean childhood bedroom. The sound coming from outside was overwhelming, her heart was pounding. Her eyes were wide, and she gripped at her chest, tugging at the buttons at her collar.

She could have sworn she had destroyed the Academy. Her eyes weren't focusing on anything, but she slowly realized a hand on her arm, someone talking to her gently.

Her hands scrambled to her lone table, trying to find her bottle of pills, but warm, gentle hands found her trembling ones. Calloused thumbs gently running over the backs of her hands. 

Vanya looked at the hands holding hers, slowly trailing up the arms, up, and up. 

Allison sighed in relief as Vanya finally focused on her face. It was a start, even if she was still pale and breathing heavily. Although she didn't spend the night in the cramped room, Allison had set her alarm early to be here, to spend the morning with her sister until she woke up. She was glad that she had. 

"Allison, I thought, but you're. What-"

"You're ok, and I'm ok. Just focus on breathing right now." She said softly, squeezing her hands gently, letting Vanya come to herself in her own time.

She finally seemed to gather herself and her thoughts. "I'm ok. I'm ok." She said nodding. "Wh-what happened? I thought I had… I don't remember a lot. Only up until you showed up at the concert. I was… I was so  _ angry _ . But I. I'm so sorry, I hurt you. It was an accident, I swear. Allison, I didn't-" she had worked herself up into a panic again, her breathing increasing.

Allison pulled Vanya into a hug, rubbing her back gently. "I know. It's... a lot. We'll all talk. I rumored dad last night, when we first landed. He shouldn't bother us. We'll talk, I think we all need to. And then Five will get us back into the right timeline." She said gently. 

Vanya nodded rapidly, still very confused, and very overwhelmed. "I feel so awful."

"We're all a little rough right now. We'll all wait for you. I promise we won't start discussing anything until you come down to the kitchen." She reassured, squeezing Vanya's arm, offering her a warm smile. She turned around and left Vanya alone to get ready.

Allison walked briskly towards Diego's room. She knocked on his door as a courtesy and opened it without waiting for his answer.

"Vanya's awake, I told her we'd wait before we talked about anything. But you should get ready."

Diego had only just woken up. He sat up slowly, scrubbing his face groggily. "Say that again?"

Allison rolled her eyes, leaning against the doorframe "Get ready, we'll be having a family meeting in twenty minutes."

"Why're you so  _ short _ ?"

"Fifteen minutes, asshole. Vanya's already up." Diego flipped her off as Allison turned on her heel to head to her bathroom. Diego got up slowly, stretching. There was no distinctive pop from his spine, no dull ache in his joints, and as he ran a hand over the side of his face there was no scar for his fingers to stumble over. He got dressed, the stupid school uniform the only clothing he had, much to his chagrin. He grumbled as he put it on, heading out to wash his face and brush his teeth.

As he walked he heard muffled noises coming from Klaus' room and sighed. He pushed the door open slowly to see Klaus with his sheets twisted around him.

He moved quickly to check on his brother, reaching out.

It was hot, and muggy, and loud. Klaus felt something grabbing him, twisting around his body. Cold greying hands, thick vegetation, the lick of flames, warm but cruel hands dragging him into a closet, a mausoleum. He was stuck, duct taped to a chair, it was cold. It was hot.

Klaus' body jackknifed off the bed, just barely missing a blurred face with his head. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wide and glazed over.

"Woah, you ok?" A voice, calm, soothing.  _ Dave _ ? "-ey, bro?" 

"Diego." He choked out, hand scrambling to latch onto his brother's wrist, gripping it tightly. His chest heaved as he looked around his room. Half the size he was used to, barely a decoration.

He felt a warm hand on his shoulder, and he let his free hand wander towards his chest, expecting cool metal but finding nothing.

His mind finally caught up to the present and he took a shaky breath. "Uh… yeah, I'm good." Klaus nodded, squeezing his brother's wrist tightly. If he concentrated hard enough he could feel a pulse.

"You sure?" Klaus nodded slowly, but he didn't let go. Diego didn't pull away either. "Well Allison said there's going to be a family meeting in twenty minutes or so. I have to finish getting ready." Klaus nodded again, taking in another breath.

"Right, right sure. How's Vanya?"

"Allison said she's awake, didn't say much else." He said with a shrug. Klaus thought he looked like a child trying too hard to act like an adult. Klaus supposed they all looked like that. 

Especially Five.

Klaus was still second oldest though.

"Alright, cool. Go brush your teeth, you smell like death." He said, letting out a loud bark of laughter. Diego nudged his shoulder a bit roughly but said nothing. 

"Idiot. You'll get the others?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Klaus said, waving Diego off.

He got on unsteady feet, cursing his early pubescent clumsiness. Not that he was very graceful during puberty. Or after.

He blames the drugs.

Klaus stumbled up towards Ben's room. Ben. Because he's alive. And every bad feeling Klaus had has been suddenly erased because all of his siblings are  _ alive _ and  _ home _ and  _ safe _ . For the most part. Klaus loved Ben. Hated ghosts. He was glad his brother wasn't one any longer.

He bounded up the stairs and slammed Ben's door open without a second thought.

Ben was sitting on his bed. He hadn't slept at all, he was too excited. He was  _ alive _ . He could feel the air rushing through his lungs as he breathed. His pulse, moving up his body. The vague dull headache at the front of his head. 

He looked up at Klaus, of course it was Klaus, and smiled brightly. The facsimile of a life he had for the brief moments Klaus made him corporeal were nothing on this. 

He got up and ran over to his brother, pulling him into a hug. "I'm sorry I was an asshole." He murmured in his shoulder. He didn't mean their fake fight last night.

"I know. I'm sorry too." 

"It's just-"

"I know. Me too." He said again more firmly. They looked at each other a moment before hugging once more. Ben didn't remember the Academy pajamas feeling so scratchy. He hadn't changed from his school uniform.

"Anyway, Diego said that Allison said there's a family meeting in… ugh a time. 15 minutes? I don't know."

"You get changed." Ben said as he pulled away from Klaus. He recognized the signs of a rough night's sleep. "Who else is up?"

"Just Vanya, don't know how she is yet, but we'll see her downstairs."

Ben nodded "I'll get Five and Luther, don't worry." Klaus nodded and trudged back out of the room and downstairs to his preferred bathroom.

  
  


Five had a fitful night's sleep. He had woken up at a quarter past 4 and couldn't get back to bed. He had been up pacing his room, and trying to write out a probability map. He just didn't know where to begin.

He looked away from his well as he heard a knock on the door, and the sound of something sliding against the wood. He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Come in." He called.

Ben came in, already dressed…  _ No, still in his clothes _ . Five noted, judging by their rumpled appearance. "You been up too?"

Ben nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I have a lot of pent up energy." He nodded, looking at the wall behind Five. 

Five glanced back and coughed. He glanced at Ben for a moment, nodding. "I'm glad to have you back. I wasn't sure if you would even be able to come with us. It would be annoying having to explain everything to you if you hadn't."

Ben had a look of annoyance on his face. But he was smiling? Five didn't get it. "Everyone's awake?"

"I think Luther's still asleep, I was going to get h-."

A flash of blue caught the corner of Luther's eye, the reflection of Five in his mirror. 

His unbroken mirror. The mirror that he hated. But as he looked at it now Luther wasn't sure what to feel. He could have sworn he had  _ always _ been… but no. Once upon a time Luther was a real boy.

Not a monster.

Maybe a monster.

Thinking back to the past few days, he was certain he was. Luther shook the thoughts from his head.

"You ok?"

Luther looked down at his hands. Smaller, normal. In the mirror he was smaller. Too small, but he was  _ normal _ . 

Luther knew he had been wrong. He'd apologize, hope he would be forgiven, but he was still happy. 

He was just so glad to be normal again.

He nodded. "I'm ok. Is Vanya?"

"I know she's awake."

Luther nodded again. "Everyone else?" Five was always the earliest. When they were kids. Well the first time they were kids, they often competed to see who could get up first.

It was dumb, but he missed it. 

"Awake, you were the last one, I think."

Always Number One. Always last.

"I'll be down in a few minutes." He said, trying to smile. 

Five left, Luther stared at himself in the mirror again and got dressed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The babies need a hug.
> 
> Also forewarning Vanya was my least favorite character, but I will do my best to not let my bias take total control.
> 
> I might think Vanya is a bland, mostly predictable, whiny character, but if I want other people to understand that Luther is a well meaning idiot, I ought to give Vanya the same courtesy.


	3. A Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where Luther and Vanya hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter. But like, things need to happen for things to happen? *shrugs* 
> 
> I was working on it for days though (has it been days? Being stuck doing nothing is messing with my sense of time). 
> 
> Anyway I hope this makes sense, and isn't terrible.

Slowly everyone gathered in the kitchen. 

Grace was humming as she busied herself around the kitchen. She had no idea the children before her weren't actually children.

"I think your father will be in his office all day, dears, so I thought I would make waffles." She whispered conspiratorially.

"That sounds great mom, thanks." Diego said, giving his mother a hug. He hadn't been shorter than her in a long time. 

He sat at the table, eyeing Klaus who had his hands wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate.

He looked like he wished it were something else. 

Klaus waved at him, a small wiggle of his fingers, bringing the cup to his lips and sipping quietly. 

"Can I also have a hot chocolate?" He asked, eyeing Klaus again.

"Oh! Of course sweetheart, just a moment!" She said "I'll prepare enough for everyone, they'll be so excited."

Five was the next to come downstairs, a flash of blue as he pulled into the seat at the head of the table.

"Good morning dear, glad to see you're back. We were so worried about you yesterday." Grace said, walking over to pat Five on the shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Diego and Klaus perked up, but Five merely continued to stare at the table. 

"Wait so you-"

"Morning!" Ben said brightly. His eyes were shining with excitement, and he practically ran to the table, collapsing inelegantly next to Klaus. In seconds a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream was placed in front of him.

"Good morning darling. You're quite chipper this morning, aren't you?" Grace said, kissing the top of his head. 

Ben was preoccupied with his hot chocolate, downing half of it in one gulp, and then immediately spitting it back up and throwing himself back as his mouth burned.

Diego bit down on his lip trying  _ very _ hard not to laugh. Klaus had no such compunctions. Ben pushed Klaus, sending him crashing to the ground. 

"Oh, sweetheart. Be careful. Here let me see your mouth. Are you hurt?" She asked looking into Ben's mouth, and checking his face for any potential burns.

"I'm ok, mom." He said, eyes stinging with tears. "I don't think it's serious." 

"No, it's hilarious." Klaus said, trying to catch his breath. "Oh man, your  _ face _ ."

"Klaus, don't be mean to your brother. How would you like it if he laughed when you were in pain."

Klaus raised an eyebrow, but didn't mention how terrible an example that was. "Sorry mother, Ben." 

Ben surreptitiously flipped him off as Grace went to make more hot chocolate for him. 

Luther was the next to come down. Allison and Vanya soon after holding hands and giggling to each other.

"There they are! I've made hot chocolate! And breakfast will be ready in a moment!" Grace said brightly. 

Everyone sat down, Allison and Vanya sitting at the opposite end of Five, still holding on to each other. 

Luther chewed on his lip before settling down next to Diego, folding his hands on the table in front of him.

They sat in silence, eating their breakfast and drinking their cocoa.

Five sat there growing increasingly annoyed by the silence, but he knew they probably shouldn't talk in front of Grace. No matter what Diego said she still reported back to Reginald after all. 

The Hargreeves thanked Grace for breakfast, and stalled in the kitchen. 

"Aren't you going to train?" 

They looked up at Grace.

"Uhm, yeah, we… Dad said we could train later." Luther said, swallowing nervously.

Grace eyed her children for a moment, scanning Luther's face before nodding. "Of course, how silly of me to forget. I'll be around if you need me." 

They remained silent until they could no longer hear Grace's heels.

"We all need to talk." Allison said at last, looking from Vanya, over to Luther, then Five.

"About what?" Diego asked, looking confused. "We already know everything."

"About each other, like… we need to  _ talk _ ." She emphasized. "We killed an entire planet because we couldn't just… communicate with each other properly. We don't talk and we don't listen, and we need to. I've been thinking about it a lot recently." Allison said, giving a defeated sigh.

Klaus looked up, nodding emphatically. "See,  _ she _ gets it! I  _ said _ we should talk to Vanya before!" Klaus put out a hand for Allison to high-five. She hesitated a moment before complying, giving him a small smile. 

Luther started to roll his eyes but caught himself before he could make a snarky comment. He looked down at his feet and nodded slowly. They could talk.

So they did, and they started with Vanya.

It took ten minutes for her to gather her thoughts properly, to calm the building anger that clawed at her throat.

"I spent my  _ whole _ life thinking I was less than. That was ordinary, and useless, and I was  _ never _ good enough. Not for you, not for dad. And then to find out I've actually had powers, really  _ strong _ powers, it- I thought… It felt like you purposely hid them from me. You wanted me to be weak and ordinary because you couldn't stand the thought of little Number Seven being  _ better _ than you." 

The silence lingered a moment, everyone waiting for someone else to start.

"I promise Vanya, none of us knew you had powers. Or I guess we didn't remember." Klaus admitted, reaching a hand out to her, even though they were too far away to touch. 

"I really didn't remember even rumoring you when we were kids. I… Dad told me you were sick, that you needed help. I didn't know what I was doing, I was a little kid. But I'm so so so sorry for it. I really am." Allison said, gripping Vanya's wrist. 

Vanya chewed on her lip, curling in on herself. "I… I know. I do, but it still hurts! I just wanted to be like you, and you took that away from me."

" _ Dad _ took it away from you."

"You're the one who said that we're adults and we make our own choices, Allison."

"I was  _ four _ ."

_ Someone _ coughed. 

Vanya let out a choked out sob. "I could have killed you."

Everyone looked at Vanya and Allison, then each other, trying figure out what to say.

"We know it was an accident." Luther muttered hugging himself. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, I was just so scared. And…"

"And that's how dad dealt with our powers when they weren't working right, when we got dangerous." Ben finished softly. "He tried to neutralize us, or, or work us harder to get them to work." He glanced over at Klaus, who grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tightly.

"You're not the only one dad locked up because of their powers."

"Why don't I remember this?" Vanya asked, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"What do you mean dad locked you up?" Diego asked at the same time.

Klaus looked over to Vanya "I think it's a 'grass is greener' situation, sis. Trust me, I  _ wished _ I was you for so long. And I mean up until we realized you had powers." Klaus admitted. He was pointedly ignoring Diego. "I… I'm not sure any of us could get past our own problems to realize we all had them."

Vanya nodded slowly, hiccoughing out broken sobs. "I'm really scared." She said softly. "And angry. Why am I still so angry?"

"Because we were horrible to you. But… well I really don't think we were much better to each other." Luther said slowly. 

"Because you were treated like shit like the rest of us, and you're still withdrawing from drugs." Klaus added.

"She isn't a drug addict, Klaus." Luther said, sighing. 

"I mean, she was on mind altering medicine for basically her whole life." Klaus said with a shrug. 

"Then what about you?" He asked, trying not to sound accusing.

"Well, I was, before you know, twhipp. But I think I only drank, did some pot at this age, so I'm not… I mean I guess I'm not really going through withdrawals the way I would normally." Klaus said with a shrug. 

"But you could still relapse." Ben insisted.

Klaus nodded, playing with the hem or Ben's blazer sleeve, Ben returned the favor by playing with Klaus'. 

"But I thought that happened because of like… cravings and stuff?" Vanya asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Uhmmm, sort of. It's a different mix of things. Emotional triggers, or even a conversation can lead to potential cravings…" Ben said, looking over to Klaus who was nodding along. 

"You mean like having your dad lock you up somewhere? You never said what he did, Klaus." Diego said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.

"Tell them." Ben said, looking at Klaus with a pointed look.

"Yeah, whatever it is. That's the point. Get out all of our grievances. Or some of them." Allison said, reaching over towards Klaus.

Klaus sighed, pulling closer to Ben, practically trying to hide behind him. "Uhm… Dad maybe used to sometimes lock me up in a mausoleum." He mumbled into Ben's shoulder.

"What? I'll kill him." Diego said, stabbing a knife into the table top. 

"No, don't do that, he might haunt us." Klaus said under his breath. Ben patted Klaus on the shoulder in a consoling manner. 

"Wait really?" Allison asked.

"But you  _ hate _ your powers." Luther hissed suddenly. He stood up abruptly and kicked his chair away from him. "So what, whenever he had a problem with one of us he just sent us away? What did he think he was going to accomplish?"

"How could you hate having powers?" Vanya muttered. 

"Luther, I don't think getting upset is going to help right now." Allison said pointedly. 

Klaus was resting against Ben, pursing his lips shut. "He did it as a messed up version of exposure therapy. He did a great job, obviously." Klaus muttered 

Luther relaxed a bit, walking over slowly, telegraphing his movements. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I just never realized dad was so awful to you guys. I… I  _ trusted _ him, and Pogo, and they just hurt you and lied to us."

Vanya looked up, chewing on her lip. "I guess he hurt you too." She said after a moment. She sat stock still, staring at nothing before getting up and hugging Luther.

He didn't move, hands held up as if afraid he would hurt her. 

Allison stood up, as if to jump between them if needed. Or maybe to hug them both.

"I'm still  _ really _ angry at you." Vanya said, prodding Luther in the chest. "But… thanks. For apologizing. And for trying." She said, looking at Luther carefully. 

"I was just really scared." He said softly, rubbing at his eyes to fight back tears. 

"So was I! You  _ crushed _ me!" Vanya snapped.

"You nearly killed Allison!" Luther exclaimed, startled at the sudden shouting.

"I… it was an  _ accident _ . I was… Ugh, I was scared too, I just. I was just frustrated, and angry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She cried, burying her face into Luther's chest. 

"Me too."

"I'm sorry dad left you alone for years. That… that couldn't have been easy either. At least I could have _tried_ to make friends." Vanya muttered. 

Luther chewed on his lip, hugging Vanya back at last, doing his very best not to put any pressure on her. 

Five sighed, resting his chin on his arms. "Wow, really moving. You're all very emotional, great. But what're we gonna do about dad and the Apocalypse?"

Someone threw a balled up paper napkin at Five.

It missed by a mile.

Klaus sighed dramatically. 

It was only 9AM.


	4. An Attempt at Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves make sure Reginald is still under Allison's powers.
> 
> Pogo wants them to study.
> 
> Grace says school's out.
> 
> Or:
> 
> The one where I reference my other fics *shrugs*.
> 
> Also:
> 
> The one that precedes why I wrote this fic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided that they relatively recently got names? In the original timeline, like between their 12th birthday (maybe on their birthday?, That's common), and Five leaving. So Pogo is still getting used to them. That's what I'm saying. He just isn't used to real names yet. (Because Reginald is a buttface).
> 
> Also I feel like Pogo and Klaus just don't get along? Their first interaction, when Pogo claims Klaus stole that box (which like, yeah he did. But... Do we know where he HID it?? Does he just have a huge secret pocket in that jacket???) Anyway, Klaus seemed very closed off, even slightly aggressive, towards Pogo in that initial interaction, so I feel like whatever relationship between them is very strained. Not to the extent of Reginald and everyone, but strained nonetheless. So that's sort of what I'm basing the way they act towards each other off of.
> 
> It could just be because they don't have many scenes together.
> 
> Also, like... Grace is the best.

Ben knew they still needed to talk. There was no way they managed to get all of their issues out in the open. Diego hadn't even gotten a turn, and he had daddy issues a mile wide.

They all did.

Five had the Apocalypse, and the assassin thing. Allison had problems with control. Luther his isolation. Klaus barely scratched the surface with his problems. Vanya still held so much resentment towards them, towards dad. Ben had died.

So they still had a lot to discuss. But they _started_ to talk. That was important, because it meant they could talk more later. 

Five still wanted to talk, but he didn't want to _talk_. He wanted to discuss the Apocalypse unsurprisingly, and, whether or not dad realized something was wrong.

At least Grace was reliable. Sure she was programmed by dad, but Diego wasn't far off about her feeling things.

She had made Ben waffles after all. It wasn't even Saturday. 

"So, my powers seem to be holding for now." Allison said softly, leaving their father's office.

"Are you ok? Do you still have your soul?" Klaus asked, widening his eyes and hissing at her jokingly. 

Allison snorted, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure my soul is as fine as it could be." She said, kicking Klaus' foot gently. "I didn't even see his eyes." She winked.

Klaus cackled as if understanding a joke no one else was aware. 

"So, we still need to discuss what we're going to do." Five said impatiently. 

"Well, _bro_ , you're the brains of this operation, what do you think?" Diego asked, raising an eyebrow.

Five looked shocked for a moment. "Well… "

He motioned for them to move away from Reginald's office. 

"We should probably train Vanya." He said once they were far enough away.

Vanya perked up at that, eyes bright with excitement. "Yes! Please, I would _love_ to train and get control of my powers!" 

"Of course." Allison giggled, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Do we want to do that here though?" Luther asked, eyeing the entrance way they had just walked through with concern. "If dad finds out…"

Diego looked at Luther for a moment, amazement in his eyes. "I don't know what happened to you, brother, but keep it up."

Luther sighed "Just realized dad didn't care about us nearly… well at all, really." Luther admitted.

Klaus sighed, kicking the ground absently.

"Oh, I wouldn't say he doesn't care about you children. He just has a very… unique way of showing it." A gentle voice said from behind. "I am surprised Sir. Reginald is allowing you free time, though." He added coyly, raising an eyebrow. 

Luther stiffened, still angry with Pogo, despite everything that happened after their last conversation. Vanya jerked forward a bit wanting to apologize.

This Pogo didn't know what they knew. 

"He said he was too busy to train us today." Klaus piped up, giving the chimp a shrug.

Pogo settled a look at Klaus. "Did he now? Perhaps I should go ask him, then." He said, turning around and motioning for them to follow him. 

Klaus scoffed, crossing his arms "Asshole." He muttered.

"Language, Master Four… Ah, Klaus." Pogo corrected.

Klaus snorted again, lagging behind with Ben.

"He really did say that, Pogo." Luther said, pushing his way towards the front of his siblings. 

Pogo glanced down at Luther, and boy was that weird. Luther hadn't been short enough to be looked down upon in fifteen years.

"I'm very certain of it, Master O- Luther." He agreed, his eyes looking at Allison.

"Shit." She muttered under her breath, looking anywhere but at Pogo.

"Language, Miss Allison, language."

Klaus looked at Ben and rolled his eyes. All it earned him was an elbow to the stomach.

Moments later the children were once again gathered outside of Reginald's office. Pogo knocked on the door gently.

"Come in." Reginald's tone was cool and short as it always was.

As they opened the door, Reginald straightened himself out after tucking something underneath his desk.

"Yes, Pogo?"

"The children claimed you were too busy to train them today." 

Reginald spared them little more than a glance. "They're doing as expected of them, thank you. You may go now."

Pogo hummed, looking at Allison. "As expected, huh?"

She blinked up at him, smiling innocently. 

Pogo let out a defeated sigh. "Very well Sir. Come, children, we should start our lessons."

"Lessons don't start until 10." Ben pointed out. They still had forty minutes, give or take.

"Well, since you aren't training your bodies I don't see why we can't train your brains." Pogo said, smiling as he led them to their classroom. "How about a 'pop quiz'!" He said, starting to hand out little booklets and pens.

The Hargreeves looked at each other. Five seemed to be the only one interested in the possibility of a test, but he seemed to realize how ridiculous that was after a moment.

"Oh, actually, Pogo, I thought I could teach the children today." Grace said, coming up from behind the 'kids'. "I have a few lessons planned out regarding botany, and plants medicinal uses. In the garden." She smiled brightly at Pogo, tilting her head just slightly. 

Pogo sighed after a moment, face softening slightly. "That sounds lovely, Grace. I'm sure the children would love that."

Diego looked up at mom, eyes bright. They hadn't ever been able to go out in the yard to study, and although he was an adult now, technically, he still couldn't believe their mother had actually considered his request from so many years… or well months ago!

"Come on, children, let's go! I have a bunch of new plants for you to learn about." She said, ushering the children out of the classroom , down the hall, and into the courtyard. 

It seemed so much bigger without Ben's statue in the middle of it.

And the bench wasn't there… 

Five pointedly looked away from where it would have been, stealing a glance towards Klaus who seemed to realize what he had. 

He grinned, and Five couldn't help but snort in response.

He could have sworn it was replaced before he time traveled. 

Grace turned around, skirt flaring around her, as she clapped her hands together. "Children! Come here a moment." She said, motioning for them to gather closer. 

They did without hesitation as Grace leant down to whisper. "Now, I know I _said_ I would teach you about botany, but I think it would be more fun to have a free day. I read about school breaks, and this seemed like a lovely day for that, don't you think?"

"Yes, mom. Thank you, that sounds amazing." Diego said, taking her hands in his and squeezing tightly. 

"Good, I thought so! You children can go play, or talk, about whatever you want!" She said, with a knowing glint in her eye. "I'm sure you have so much to dis…cover." She said, settling for a word she had no intention of using. 

"I'll be leaving for a trip. I should be back in a few hours." Reginald said from the doorway to the courtyard. He didn't wait for a response before turning around. 

"Go on. I'll be tending to the garden if you children need anything." She added after a moment of silence. She patted Diego's cheek, and brushed through Ben's hair with her fingers before turning around to a pile of potted flowers.

"She knows something." Five said.

"She's _helping_ us." Diego hissed, glaring at his brother. 

"Obviously. I just never realized she was so attentive before." Five said, furrowing his eyebrows. 

Diego let out a huff, and crossed his arms. _He'd_ known that for ages. Five should have too.

Maybe he forgot. He spent four decades in an Apocalyptic wasteland after all. 

"Anyway, I've been thinking. If I make a probability map, I could find the best timeline for us to go to. Train Vanya there, hopefully preventing the Apocalypse altogether." Five said. 

"You could do that?" Allison asked, a bit too hopeful. Five realized she must be missing Claire.

Five moved to sit under the tree, waving his blank booklet and pen. 

"I can do everything." He said with a shrug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think this will probably be five or six chapters at the most, but I'm leaving it a question mark until I'm certain.
> 
> I have a lot of chapter 5 planned because that's where the story was initially written from.


	5. Stop, Frankentime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five decides to make the best timeline he can find, and definitely succeeds.
> 
> Or:
> 
> The one in which I say screw the rules, I make the rules.
> 
> Also: The one where Five decides to play Dr. Frankenstein with the timeline.
> 
> Also also: The one where everyone realizes Klaus has been through some stuff and they should really talk about their issues without devolving into fights.
> 
> Also also also: The one where Allison and Klaus discuss their Disney Prince(ss) crushes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I make a bunch of stuff up, but include words like "controls" and "viable" to make it sound more technical?
> 
> Yes.
> 
> Also I didn't realize until just now that I had Dave die two days before the Hargreeves' birthday, so I apologize. Also he felt like he was born in the summer. I almost did a spring birthday, you know, for that sweet sweet dichotomy. But eh, it's cool.
> 
> Also, I know, there are a bunch of wonderful characters I missed *cough Esmerelda and Phoebus cough*, but I'll discuss that in another fic, probably. Or like, if you ask I'll just tell you how Tangled is probably the best Disney Princess film, fighting for that title with Mulan. But Hunchback of Notre Dame is a masterpiece, and I don't even dislike the gargoyles, so. (Top five would include Beauty and the Beast and probably Princess and the Frog) (but my mind changes to make the order not matter).

So everyone gathered under the oak tree with Five.

Luther tried not to think about how he sat there with dad sometimes.

Allison nudged him gently, offering him a soft smile like she could sense what he was thinking. 

"So to start off with I'll write out the probability map for our original timeline, with me growing up with you guys, and with me gone." He said, scratching away in his booklet.

"That's what you used to determine which people to kill before we found out about Harold Jenkins." Luther stated matter of factly. 

"Yes, except I'm not going to have to kill anyone." Five's jaw ticked as he looked at the equations. "I'm using our original timeline as a 

control. We'll add and remove different variables until we get a stable timeline that will help us prevent the Apocalypse, or rather not have one at all. The biggest thing will be helping Vanya control her powers and get used to her emotions." 

"So, we can do that in our original timeline, why not go back there?" Diego asked.

Five looked up at him, then back down at his book, frowning. "Because it sucked." He said simply. 

"Well, yeah, but won't it always suck?"

"Not if I can help it." Five muttered. He sighed sitting up. "Well, shit." 

"What, is it worse in that timeline you're in with us or something?" Diego asked, eyeing the numbers, although it was pure gibberish to him.

"It's not better… I still get recruited into the Commission." He admitted, frowning. "Just later… everything else pans out almost the same."

"What's 'almost everything'?" Ben asked, a bit nervously.

"It isn't viable. And dad is still alive in that timeline anyway, which almost guarantees certain doom." Five said.

"What happened?" Luther asked. 

Five sighed. "Ben's death is later than in this timeline, but it still happens. It's what brings us together for the Apocalypse instead of dad. Dad and I argue about how to handle it. But everything else? The same. We still get attacked by the Commission because I go rogue, Klaus still time travels, Patch still dies, Vanya still feels left out and causes the Apocalypse. It's not viable."

"Shit." Diego mutters under his breath.

"How did he die in that time-" Luther started.

"I don't know." Five admitted.

"Wait wait. Klaus time travels?" Allison asks, incredulously. " _Again_."

"You know, that's something we can talk about later…" Klaus says, drawing a finger through the dirt underneath him. 

"Yeah, no, what the Hell Klaus? Wait, is that why you were in that vet bar?" Diego asked, as if finally connecting the dots. "Klaus…"

"Look, yeah, ok? I time traveled, and. Ugh, yeah ok, yeah. I don't really want to talk about it right now." He said, not looking up from the ground.

"Vet bar?" Luther asked, looking from Diego to Klaus.

"Yeah, Klaus wanted to stop in, got into a fight, and then he said… You lost someone."

Klaus shrugged, keeping his mouth shut.

Five frowned, rubbing his chin in thought before scribbling something down. "Tell me about them. Uh, date of birth, name, date of death… where they were born, and grew up." Five said quickly, bending over his notebook. 

Klaus eyed Five suspiciously.

"He said he didn't want to talk about it." Diego said, frowning at Five.

"But if I can make a probability map with them alive in it… It's absolutely crazy, but I can take different bits of various timelines and maybe… I can do it." He thinks. 

"How do you mean?" Vanya asked softly.

"Time within a timeline is set. If I can take variables from alternate timelines and set them into our original timeline, which would be the most stable, I might be able to… fix certain events for the better. I've already written an equation in which Ben lives in our new timeline. And if dad dies, Ben won't have to." 

"But dad and I are both dead in our original timeline."

"But I'm taking the you who lived up until Apocalypse week. If we kill dad, that gets us together, rather than you dying. It sounds very… improbable, but I think it might balance out… it'll make us harder to spot by the Commission."

"You think it would really work?" Diego asked, crossing his arms. 

"Fairly certain. So if we can find a version of your partner that survives long enough to come back to our timelinel…"

Klaus looked over at Five with wonder. "Dave Katz… he uhm… He was born July 16th 1941, and died September 28th 1969." Klaus said softly, his hand moving to grab at something, but his fingers only wrapped around his shirt. "Born and raised in Kansas. A farm town, never said where, I don't think. Don't remember if he did." Klaus mumbled.

Five nodded, bending over, writing out several different probability maps. He furrowed his eyebrows, sitting back. 

"Huh. There's only a single timeline I could 

find where you and Dave both make it back together." Five said, frowning.

"Then we can choose that one!" Klaus said excitedly.

"Yeah, great idea! The problem is you both come back and the Apocalypse already happened." Five said brightly, one of his manic grins gracing his face. "We're trying to avoid that, remember?" Five said, frowning. 

Klaus let out a defeated sigh, bowing his head. "You know, that tracks." He said, rather despondent. "He gets easily distracted. We probably went on a time traveling road trip. It forgot 

Diego let out an undignified snort (he'd call it a manly scoff), "Right, blame this Dave guy for being late to stopping the Apocalypse."

"Well, to be fair to alternate me, I was probably stoned." 

"Actually you would have been two weeks sober." Five pointed out, tracking a finger across the equation. "But I can't calculate past you landing in the Apocalypse. It's one of the weirder timelines, honestly. There's so much different… Honestly, how the Hell did a fish become a world leader?" He muttered, scratching his chin. 

"Maybe Atlantis never sank in that timeline!" Klaus supplied helpfully.

Allison snorted, but Five eyed Klaus before reaching a hand out to scribble something out. Once done he drew an invisible line between the new equation, and the previous one, checking to see if they matched. "Huh, alright then."

Klaus punched the air in "I knew I didn't hallucinate the mermaid!"

"Mermaids don't exist, Klaus." Luther said with a defeated sigh.

"Oh, but talking fish do?" Diego asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not in this timeline." Klaus muttered. 

"You know, that wasn't my point, Diego."

"Oh, do you want to see some points, _Luther_?" Diego responded, moving to pull out a knife, only to realize he didn't have any on him. "What? Where the Hell is my harness?"

"We time traveled, you aren't a vigilante yet."

"You know, I wasn't talking to you." Diego said, jabbing Luther in the chest with his finger.

"Not again."

"Guys…" 

"Ben, go make popcorn."

"Klaus, no…" 

"HEY!" 

Dead silence.

Klaus snorted, they were anything but. 

"I can't tell you _what_ happened, only the probability of things that happened. And judging by my calculations, I was able to extrapolate enough information to verify that a talking fish rules a very large country, and it's because Atlantis survived.

"The probability of it having been a war that initially would have destroyedAtlantis is nearly 100%, but beyond that your speculations are useless. I'm a mathematician, _not a census taker_ ." Five said in as calm a voice as he could muster. He did not succeed. He stared at the calculations once more. He _really_ didn't understand how Reginald could be part duck, but he couldn't afford to be distracted. He scratched out that entire timeline and continued working.

"Can we _please_ move on, because that timeline is irrelevant!" Five snapped. 

He took a deep breath and released it slowly. 

"For what it's worth, Klaus, I am sorry. But it's a constant. Anytime you meet him he always dies, changing it could irreparably and negatively damage the timeline we're trying to build." He said gently, trying to avoid looking at his brother.

Klaus nodded, sitting back on his heels. "It could have been cool to have fish people walking around though, huh?"

"Living out your dreams of marrying Ariel?" Allison asked, smirking at Klaus..

Klaus laughe, winking at her. "You know it."

"Well that leaves Prince Eric for me, then." Allison grinned

"Uhm. Li Shang is way sexier than Prince Eric."

"Ok, but Flynn Ryder hands down." Allison said, putting her hands up. 

"Wait, that's Tangled right? I never got to see it." Klaus admitted.

"Oh, no we have to, you'd _love i-"_

Five sighed, rolling his eyes. 

"Are you done? Yes? Great! Allison…" he waited until she quieted and looked at him. "Do you still want to be with Patrick? There are a few timelines where you aren't divorced.

Allison jolted as if by electric shock, crossing her arms in self-comfort. "I love Patrick, but it's not… Looking back it wasn't good." Allison said softly, gripping her arms tightly.

"What do you mean?" Vanya asked, her voice tight and defensive. 

Allison placed a soothing hand on her shoulder "It was me, I'm the one who lied to him, I manipulated him… and Claire, and I have no way of knowing if there was anything real about our relationship. He has no way of knowing either.

"I don't want to put him or Claire through that again. I just want a chance to be a good mother, just want to see my baby. I was… well I wasn't _okay_ with the way things were but… is it selfish to want to have partial custody, or… visitation rights?" Allison asked, frowning. 

"You should be able to see Claire." Luther said, eyeing her. "You just have to keep proving you're trying."

Allison looked at Luther, nodding slowly. "Have us ready to discuss visitation." Allison decided. "That's something something shouldn't be manipulated, but I can't not have a chance at seeing Claire…"

Five checked over his equations before nodding. "Done." Then he turned to Diego. "I think I know, but."

"I… I j-just w-wa-" he paused taking a deep breath. "I just want Patch back." 

Five nodded, bending over his papers, scratching away. "That's easy enough, she survives past Klaus' kidnapping more often than not." 

"Wait, _what_ ?" Vanya asked, head snapping up. "So no one thought it was important to tell me Klaus time traveled, or was _kidnapped_."

"Now hold on, I didn't know that either." Allison said, looking around. 

"I only knew he was missing because Patch called me, and Luther was there." Diego said, holding his hands up.

"I only saw him when he came back from time traveling." Five admitted. "But he did tell me Hazel and Cha-Cha took him."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Allison said, looking hurt.

Klaus let out a dramatic sigh, flopping onto the ground. "Can we continue this another day? Because we all have shit, and I don't feel like talking about _mine_ anymore." He glanced over at Ben with a raised eyebrow. He looked down at his hands, chewing on his lip, they seemed to be having a silent conversation about _something_. And Klaus seemed to have made a point Ben had trouble with arguing against. 

"What the Hell?" Vanya muttered. "You couldn't tell m-us? We could have helped."

Klaus rolled his head to look at Vanya. "I'm not talking about this now. Another time. Come on Five chop chop, we have a timeline to manipulate!"

Vanya opened her mouth to say something, but closed it with a snap, crossing her arms. 

Five nodded, eyes roaming over his pages. 

"There's a few timelines where you get through the Police Academy, are you at all interested?" He asked Diego.

Diego turned away from Klaus, eyebrows raised up in surprise "Wait, really? Uh…" Diego thought for a moment, weighing the options. "Maybe…"

"There's a timeline where you go _back_ to the Police Academy, we can use that instead." 

"Oh good, do that one! You can quit whenever you want!" Klaus said gleefully, clapping his hands together. 

"I'm not gonna quit, asshole."

"But you'll have the _option_. Freedom of choices and all that!"

"You know what, screw you, I want to be a police officer. Add it."

Five did so dutifully, plugging it into the appropriate spot. 

"Wait, no. Just… in school or whatever. " Diego said very quickly.

Five eyed him warily. "You sure?"

Diego pursed his lips nodding "Yeah, yeah I'm sure."

"Great." He muttered, rewriting the new equation on a blank page. He was running out. 

"Ben is already alive… you were a veterinarian in the timeline you lived longest, are you interested in that?"

"Uh, but if I'm going to be _me_ I… can't?" He said, a little disappointed. 

Five shrugged "It probably would be best not to jump right into it." He said, Klaus letting out a sharp laugh, muttering 'jump' under had breath. 

"I'll worry about school in the timeline." Ben decided, nodding. "I'm just… glad I get to live."

"Good riddance." Klaus said, raising his arms up in mock prayer "Thank the heavens! Hallelu- ow." 

Ben had jabbed Klaus in the side with his foot. 

"Vanya, anything you want changed while I'm at it? Most of your 'problems' will be dealt with in the timeline, but..." Five trailed off, shrugging. 

"Can I keep the first chair position?" She asked almost immediately. "Without… without Helen having been murdered." She added, almost as an afterthought, though genuine.

"One minute…done." Five looked over to Luther, eyeing his brother carefully. "You're left."

"I… I want…" Luther swallowed, "well, if I could… keep my normal body."

Five nodded, sitting back once he was done. He was frowning. 

"Another constant, unfortunately… but if I could get ahold of the serum we might be able to fix it." Five said hopefully. "It's not ideal, but it's doable. Especially if I had mom's help."

Luther glanced down at his feet, nodding. "Is that… that's possible?" 

"It may take some time, Luther. But I think so. As long as we have dad's notes for the serum, or a sample we could do something to reverse it once there." Five promised

Luther sighed, nodding "That's… that'll be fine." He said softly. "C… I guess that means I still… you know." He pointed up towards the sky. 

Five nodded "Yeah, it's… You… get hurt, and go to the moon. Sometimes the length of time changes, longer or shorter…" his voice trailed off. 

He had hoped for better news.

"Just… I guess whatever my original timeline did is fine. You… you think you can fix it, though?"

"I will, promise." Five said firmly, furrowing his eyebrows. 

Allison ran a hand comfortingly up and down his arm. She leaned over to place her head on his shoulder, murmuring 'I'm sorry' under her breath. 

"Ok, I think we're just about done…" Five muttered, checking over the full equation. He took a deep breath, looking over to where mom was. The sun was high in the sky, she must have been making lunch. 

"I want to talk to mom, maybe get those notes… I'm going to try and bring her with us, I think. That way dad doesn't mess with her for his scheme." Five said, rolling his eyes. 

"Wait, what do you mean dad messed with her?" Diego said, frowning.

"When he killed himself." Luther said, matter of factly. "He messed with mom's software, made her act weird so she wouldn't stop him…"

"Wh-"

"I found out before the, you know." Klaus said, running a thumb across his throat. "Things got really crazy really fast, and none of you were there for us to tell. That's the only reason."

"You conjured dad?" Diego asked, clearly impressed. "Wow, good job, bro."

Klaus smiled softly, "thanks." They didn't have to know _how_ he managed it.

Five sighed, nodding a bit. "I think we're good. We'll rest, relax for the rest of the day. I'll go over it again in the morning to make sure everything is in order, then we'll go." 

Five's body was tense. He wanted to go now, fix it _now_ , but he _knew_ , he knew he shouldn't rush this. Didn't need to rush this. Not if everything works out the way it's supposed to. If he doesn't take a break it won't. 

"What about you?" Ben asked, looking at Five. "Aren't you going to change anything for yourself?"

"I already did." Five said, shrugging. "I'm… I'm fine." He said, nodding. "But I'll feel better when we've actually managed to successfully jump. But for now? We'll relax." He said.

Everyone nodded, slowly getting up to see what Grace was up to, to try and relax before having to get serious once again.

As the siblings made their way inside, Diego piped up. "You're both wrong. Mulan. 100% Mulan." Diego said, brushing dirt off his pants. "She's obviously the best."

"Like she'd date you when she has Li Shang." Klaus muttered.

"She so would."

"Maybe if you were a foot and a half taller, and worked out more." 

"I liked Cinderella…" Luther admitted, scratching his cheek as he interrupted Klaus and Diego. "She was always really nice."

Klaus snorted, gently pushing Luther's shoulder. 

Allison laughed, looping an arm through his "That's a perfectly lovely reason to like someone." She said, kindly.

Vanya rolled her eyes at Ben, and as he laughed, both felt very hopeful for things to come. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did anyone else think it was weird they kept saying Grace's hardware was all jacked up, when it was her software that was messed with? I'm not a computer expert by any stretch, but I thought hardware was just the like... physical bits, not the programming?  
> \--  
> There's one more chapter after this, but I have other things planned so, 😁.  
> \--  
> I don't think Diego and Allison were told about Reginald killing himself? They were "out" at the time, right? And then weren't filled in? 
> 
> Certainly not Allison, anyway at least.


	6. A New Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grace boops Diego's nose.
> 
> You don't need to know anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My friend finally started watching The Umbrella Academy. She then admitted to needing to start over because she had to do other things and missed it. But she did call Klaus a scoundrel, and I can't really argue with that.  
> \--  
> Also this feels super cheesy, but uh... I like nachos, so imagine this is just nachos with words, and the cheese makes sense. (Why does this feel like something Zuko would say?)
> 
> I probably should have given "A New Day" as the title for the first chapter, but I didn't. 
> 
> And "Finding Happy" seemed like more of an epilogue title, so I'll probably use it for a really dumb fanfic later on 👍. We'll see *shrugs*

Five sought Grace out on his own, between lunch and dinner. Everyone had settled into their own rooms for now. 

"Oh, hello dear." Grace said, smiling brightly. "Did you all have a nice talk?" 

"Yes… I wanted to ask… Well you seem to have figured out that we… we were discussing things that… " 

Five sighed. "We aren't  _ actually _ children. We're from the future, and we're trying to get back to it, but we want to take you with us." He said in a rush.

Grace gave him a mildly confused smile. "I'm sure the other me can help with Luther, I don't know what happens, but if I cause it I'm certain I can help fix it."

Five looked at her, then back to the ground. "In the other timeline you were… Dad, he messed with your programming, you weren't yourself anymore, and unless you come with us we can't guarantee it won't happen again."

Grace blinked rapidly, her smile still on her face as she seemed to process that information. "But sweetheart, I'm sure the me in your timeline can be fixed. I don't want you to waste so much energy on me." She said, patting his cheek gently. "I'll be ok."

Five frowned, shoulders slumping. "We want you to come with us." He said softly. He had never been close with Grace when he was a child. She seemed to come out of nowhere, and then was everywhere. 

But she was always kind in a way Reginald wasn't, and Pogo couldn't be. 

"Don't look so mopey, why don't I make one of those peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches for you." She said, turning into the kitchen with a flair of her skirt.

"Those always make you feel better. I know they aren't healthy, and certainly not in the recommended food chart," at this she winked, "but I find that a little treat once in a while goes a long way." 

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? It's just a simple formula, it wouldn't be hard."

"Oh, I think it'll be fine, dear." Grace placed a plate with a sandwich on it. If the bread were opened it would show that the marshmallows were arranged into a smiley face. "Enjoy your snack, rest up, you'll have a busy day tomorrow, no doubt." She said, smiling brightly. 

\--

The morning came slowly. Each sibling woke up in their rooms much the same way they had before, although now the anxiety and fear was mixed with a feeling of hope and excitement. 

Five woke up early to double check all of his calculations, ironing out any potential kinks before declaring them accurate. 

As breakfast rolled around the siblings gathered around the dinner table, a general air of excitement seemed to surround them, but stopped when a cough cut across the isle chatter.

"I don't remember saying you children were permitted to sit, let alone eat, or  _ speak _ ." Reginald said, pulling out his chair. "Meals are for reflection." he said, turning to the record player. "And, Number Three, we'll be speaking after supper."

Allison looked over to dad, her siblings, then back at Reginald.

"I heard a rumor you think we already had that conversation." 

A glazed look crossed Reginald's face. Grace looked over at their father, tutting. 

"Did you think I wouldn't take precautions, Number Three? I know you don't think beyond yourself, but I thought you had enough respect not to try and use your powers on me." He said calmly, sitting down and motioning for his children to follow suit. "Especially a second time."

"What's there to respect?" Klaus muttered, pushing.

Reginald ignored him. "Take your time to think, we'll talk about this later."

Allison narrowed her eyes, sitting back and crossing her arms. 

Her six siblings seemed to roll their eyes in unison.

Allison laughed. 

Vanya smirked, and Klaus let out a loud bark of laughter. 

"What did I just say?"

Luther looked, for a moment, that he might get in trouble, but relaxed and let out a soft laugh.

"It must not have been important, because I don't remember."

Reginald scoffed "Insolent as always, Number Four."

Klaus was looking at Luther with a grin, and Diego grinned, glancing over at Reginald's resigned face.

"For once, pops, it wasn't me." Klaus said.

Reginald paused, putting his fork down and eyeing Luther with a look of mild surprise. "Number One, I expect better of you. Clearly you've been spending too much time with Number Four, I'd reconsider. 

I suppose it is my own fault, I haven't been as strict with Number Four as I should be. Perhaps we should increase your training regimen." He added as an afterthought. "Then perhaps your one-man rebellion act wouldn't seep into the rest of the Academy." 

"Maybe if you weren't a terrible father I wouldn't feel the need to rebel." 

"Yes, blame me for your own weaknesses, of course. You're never going to match your siblings if you don't take your training seriously, you'll only hold them back."

Klaus let out a sigh, looking up at the ceiling in exasperation as Ben placed a hand on his arm in comfort. 

Vanya's face twisted into one of anger, "How can you always be so cruel?!" Vanya snapped, gripping the edge of the table.

Reginald looked at Vanya with a cold stare. "I provide you with so much, yet I'm cruel. I just want what's best for the world. Number Seven… You've been taking your medication, you look ill."

Five put a hand out over the table to stop Vanya. He shook his head. Five glanced at their father and shook his head. 

"Of course." she said, glaring up at him from behind her bangs. 

Reginald eyed her carefully, nodding as he went back to eating.

Breakfast continued on, and ended, in silence. 

Reginald motioned for his children to follow.

Grace stopped him. "Oh, sir. You have a lot of phone calls waiting for you in the office. They were quite urgent." Grace spoke plainly, her vague smile plastered on her face. 

Reginald sighed "Numbers One through Six, meet me in the training room. I'll be there shortly. "Number Three, don't think we won't discuss your lack of respect and conditioning." He called, not looking back as he walked away.

Diego looked over at Grace with a wide smile, giving her a tight hug. "She's coming with us, right?" He asked, looking at Five.

"Oh, no dear, I can't leave. But I'll see you all very soon no doubt." She said, gently booping Diego on the nose with her index finger. 

"But-"

"No buts, silly. Now you should go. Your father didn't really have any messages." She winked, squeezing Diego in another quick hug. "I'll see you soon, no doubt! Take care, dears." 

Diego reluctantly pulled away, moving to form a circle with his siblings. Five held on tightly to his hand, as Diego grasped onto Klaus'. 

Klaus looked at Ben with a smile, squeezing his hand tightly. He looked over to Vanya who was standing between Allison and Luther.

"Let's blow this bitch." Klaus said, grinning maniacally

Five rolled his eyes as blue began to engulf the seven siblings.

In a blink they were gone.

In a flash they were back.

As they regained their balance they took note of their various states.

"Shit." Five muttered, realizing he was still a teenager. Why was that calculation always wrong?

Klaus looked at himself, taking a shaky breath as he felt the cool metal of dog tags resting against his skin. He gripped at them tightly, smiling softly. 

Luther looked down at himself, but remembered Five's promise, letting out a small sigh. He could wait.

Allison looked over at Vanya, smiling softly, pulling the smaller woman into a hug. "Hey, sis." She said, throat clear of any bandages or injuries. 

Ben placed a hand to his heart, feeling it beating rhythmically in his chest. Although an adult as a ghost, this would be the first time he would be one alive. 

Five looked around, an expression of content on his face as he watched his siblings. 

The sound of heels clicking on tile signaled them to their mothers standing in the doorway. "Oh, there you are. Diego dear, there's someone at the door for you."

Diego's face lit up as he raced to the door, skidding to a halt as he saw a woman, clutching at her shoulder, glaring at him.

"Don't say anything you asshole." Eudora said, glaring daggers at him. "Do things 'my way' my ass." She muttered, pushing her way into the mansion. "You gonna help fix me up or what? I managed to take care of one of those goons, but the other got away. And so did you brother, by the way, but he was messed up."

"Patch, you have no idea." Diego said warmly. 

"Well you better explain what the shit is going on, then."

And he did. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep making plans for other stories, and that probably includes what happened with Patch, and whatever. I didn't expect any sort of plot at all when I started writing, and while most of my plans are literal nonsense, I have a weird plot thing now, so that's cool. 
> 
> Thanks for everyone who's been reading/kudos-ing/commenting/lurking. I really do appreciate it ❤


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